How to Multiply Goji Berries

It is easy to multiply goji berries.

Take some cuttings in spring. Dip them into a jar of water. If it is not freezing, just put them outside or put them next to a window. Change the water every day or two. Once they start sending out roots, you can transplant them to a pot or to the ground.

If you live in Florida with summer rain, you can cut and root them in soil in any season. Both berries and leaves are edible.

Cut a branch, eat the leaves, then multiply. Or you can eat the fruits, collect the seeds, and plant the seeds. Either way is very easy.

Elephant Garlic in Zone 8b

I bought some cloves of Elephant Garlic 7 years ago. Elephant garlic tastes milder than regular garlic.

Climate Change has changed the behavior of garlics. The warm November led to the sprouting of the unharvested cloves of elephant garlic that were supposed to pop up in spring. But they are surprisingly cold hardy. And they all survived a couple of weeks of 20s this winter.

My elephant garlic isn't planted too deep. I just dig a 1-2 inch hole. I interplant it with strawberries (and other vegies) which is bad for the strawberries. But Strawberries cover the ground pretty well. I can get some strawberry runners and transplant them somewhere else.

When I harvest my elephant garlic in late summer. I will just put some back to the soil. Here in hardy zone 8b, a warm Nov, it will sprout when it rains. With a normal Nov, it will sprout in spring.

The easiest microgreens: lentil and mung bean sprouts

No egg, no problem. Legume sprouts gives you not only vitamin C, antioxidants, and fibers, but also proteins all year round.

You only need a couple of medium sized mason jars. I bought some stainless steel filters for draining the water. You only need two large table spoons of lentils or mung beans. Soak them in water for 24 hours in a kitchen cabinet. Remove the water. Wash your beans twice a day thoroughly. Voila. You have a full jar of bean sprouts in less than a week.

Mint Family is Full of Vitamin C

Pepper mint and other members of the mint family are very useful. I have a lot of pepper mint, spear mint, lemon balm, purple dead nettle, .. in my property. Pepper mint is a reliable source of vitamin C throughout the entire year. I simply put a bunch of them into my tea kettle together with a couple of tea bags.

Mint is also very useful for controlling rodents and deer. These critters are enemies of reforestation cause they destroy young tree seedlings. Some people believe the mint family is very invasive. Look at the bright side. If you keep eating them. They are not that difficult to control. And it is much more useful that your grass lawn. If you don't want them, just mow it down and it is very low growing. Or just cover it will some cardboard if you really want to get rid of it.

Eat the weeds: bittercress, purple dead nettle, dandelion

 Weeds? Many Americans are now crazy about weeds. They want to kill all weeds using toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. But many of the so called weeds are edible and nutritious. They serve as good vitamin C supplements in the winter.

I just collected some very young purple nettles, dandelions, and bittercress. They will be in my noodle soup tonight.

Pigweeds and Amaranths

Amaranths are super easy to grow and they are very drought tolerant compare to most European or Asian vegetables that you often find in the supermarkets. I grow different varieties of amaranths, some native and some non-native. 

Ｍy favorite is native pigweeds. I will collect a lot of amaranth seeds every year. I don't eat amaranth seeds, instead I do overseeding which allows me to do cut and regrow so that I can harvest amaranth leaves and young stems throughout the entire summer. Amaranths are easy to grow and very nutritious.

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